Jump to content

Yamato "Captain's sword"

Kolekt-To

By Kolekt-To
in Military Swords of Japan

 Share

Recommended Posts

Kolekt-To Proficient

Kolekt-To

Posted
Posted

I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity yesterday to meet with a long-time sword collector who is well-known within the Japanese sword collecting world. The man has been collecting for over 40 years, knows his stuff, and has solid connections within our hobby. I will refer to him as my "Mentor". He will be at the SF Token Kai next weekend and will have swords on display and for sale. As a newbie, who only began collecting this year, I am very grateful for the meeting as I gained so much information and greatly benefitted from this man's knowledge and expertise. I brought half my collection to him for evaluation and I'll say it was, indeed, a humbling experience. He provided me with a knowledgeable assessment of my swords - there was a fair amount of disappointment related to some of my purchases, but I also had an unknown gem among my swords (one of my swords has a 350 year-old blade and I was not aware of this until my mentor read the tang and consulted his Hawley book to confirm). The guy definitely has set me straight when it comes to collecting, and I'm now on a new course with my collecting goals. Glad I met with him before I got too far into this hobby! In addition to evaluating half of my collection, he showed me some of the swords in his collection. I was amazed and impressed! He had at least one Gassan Sadakazu sword and some from Minotagawa shrine smiths. He had high-class guntos and old, immaculate Nihonto from various sword periods. I was able to handle these swords and observe them close up. Attached are photos of a Minotagawa sword made by Masataka that was one of the swords that belonged to the Captain of the battleship Yamato that was sunk during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 - obviously the captain did not have this particular sword with him at the time as he went down with the ship. So, it was a fantastic 3 hours I spent with my mentor and we'll be moving forward with him continuing do so sword evaluations for me and even some repairs (he's got years of experience and a workshop with all the tools). I'm very grateful for the experience!

Yamato sword.1.jpg

Yamato sword.2.jpg

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 2
Volker62 Experienced

Volker62

Posted
Posted

Finding a truley honest mentoris more than priceless to a new collector!

 

very very big thanks to my two Mentors, both of whom unfortunately passed away......

 

my experience with my 2 "self-proclaimed student, whom I have initiated into everything is a real tragedy!

 

 

"YOU DON'T THANK FOR TRUST,YOU RETURN IT!

20210726_124023.jpg

20210726_124042.jpg

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Kolekt-To Proficient

Kolekt-To

Posted
  • Author
Posted
10 hours ago, Brian said:

In Nihonto collecting, I think there is nothing as valuable and encouraging as a true mentor.
Lucky guy.

Thank you Brian and Volker. As a newbie, I really appreciate your comments. My thinking in regard to this hobby was transformed in the course of a few hours.

Kolekt-To Proficient

Kolekt-To

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hey guys, remember I'm a newbie here. Lol. I'm going off what my mentor told me - I trust the guy and know that he has a solid reputation in the collector community. I'm not sure if this sword is papered or not. He told me that he has swords that are papered (probably some of the ones that I saw and handled last weekend were papered) and that he has several swords in Japan that are waiting to be papered. He told me that one has already been papered and is "Juyo" status, and that it will be more months ahead before he receives those swords back from Japan. As the relationship develops, I expect to learn a lot more and that more will be revealed. And, though I was witness to some great swords, I saw only part of his collection. Currently, I'm not even aware of all the questions I should, or could, be asking. I'm at that stage where I'm just happy that someone with a lot of knowledge and experience is sharing their wisdom with me in person, and that he's helping steer me in the right direction so I can reduce my risk of making costly mistakes. I'm confident that I will be made aware of more details about his collection we proceed. I did ask him how he acquired that particular Minotagawa sword (remember that he has several in his collection that I'm aware of) and he told me that he got it through a contact (in Japan, if I remember correctly), but did not reveal the name of the source - and I wasn't going to pressure him for the name of the source (we just met, and I need to be respectful and develop a trusting relationship with the man). No doubt I'll be posting more great photos of swords from his collection in the future, and I will try to ask the right questions and get more information about the swords. I hope to post photos of swords that I can be proud of from my collection, too. Currently, I've got mostly low-grade showato, but I'm shifting gears and seeing the value in aiming higher. 

  • Thanks 1
Volker62 Experienced

Volker62

Posted
Posted

Hi Geoff

 

In my insignificant opinion, the signature and also that kikusui over the signature of the Masataka  looks good.

 

 

 

A long time fellow from collector from New York, who sadly passed away has written a fine booklet, named "Gendaito made at the Minatogawa shrine"

 

Maybe you compare the signature...

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
mecox Mentor

mecox

Posted
Posted

Geoff, in the article on Japanese Naval Swords (part 1) in the NMB Downloads there is a summary on the Minatogawa Shrine forge and also of Masataka.  Will give you some background. 

  • Like 1
This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one, unless your post is really relevant and adds to the topic..

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...